NEWS
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk is confident that “steely” discussions with the owners of some of Fortitude Valley’s eyesore buildings will bear fruit soon. But he is warning that he’ll force action – with fresh legislation if need be – to make recalcitrant owners bring their buildings up to a suitable standard – both inside and out.
Cr Quirk said that while he acknowledged Walton’s (pictured) and other buildings had been an issue for about 20 years, he was determined as the new Lord Mayor to change that. “My preference is to sit down with the owners of the buildings and see if we can come to a resolution before slapping a new law on them,” Cr Quirk said.
“But I’ve also made it clear during these meetings that if they don’t lift their game then I won’t hesitate to go down that path.”
Cr Quirk said city council was currently investigating ways it could deal with the Walton’s issue under public-safety legislation.
“If people don’t make a choice to lift the standard of the presentation of their properties as they now are I will change the law and force that upon them because the Valley has got to have a future. It’s only going to have a future if it’s presented in a better way.
“There’s been a twenty-year fight going on with a couple of the land owners in Fortitude Valley. I am about to resurrect those fights”. “I have already met with the owners of Walton’s in very recent days and I intend to be meeting with other landholders there. And I believe they have to lift their game.
"There is no question about that if the Valley is going to have a strong future it needs land owners who are prepared to meet their civic responsibilities and at least have a minimum standard of presentation of their buildings. I’m determined to achieve that outcome. I don’t have law on my side but as a civic leader I am going to pursue whatever lever I have available to me to make sure that we get those improvements.
“I think what we’ve seen is the degradation of buildings to a point where they are visually unattractive – completely unattractive. And we need to make sure that they at least take some civic pride in those buildings. We are going to be playing our part in making sure that we upgrade our own services in the Valley but it needs to be a joint effort. And again I say we do not have currently the powers to do this but if it means that I have to change the local law in the Valley to get the outcome that is exactly what I’ll be doing.
“We have had some fairly serious meetings already. We are going to be saying all the things that need to be said to make sure that the property owners understand that we are serious about a lift in the presentation of the Valley. If it’s going to have a future, it’s got to have an improved amenity outcome and that’s certainly what I’m out to achieve.
LNP candidate for the state seat of Brisbane Central Robert Cavallucci says the degraded state of the Valley and the general safety of its patrons, both entertainment and commercial, were one of the highest priorities in the electorate. “I completely support the Lord Mayor’s position and if elected as the State Member for Brisbane Central would fight for this desired outcome.
“I have spent a significant amount of time over the last few months meeting and talking with a large number of Valley stakeholders including property owners, commercial property agents, bar and nightclub owners, shopping boutique owners and local residents to obtain their view and thoughts on what we can do to return the Valley to its glory days. I look forward to continuing these discussion with other stakeholders during my campaign and continuing the process of applying pressure to improve the amenity of the Valley.”
•For a history of the Walton’s building saga, go to: waltons.wikia.com
